What You'll Learn
- How organic pest management differs from conventional IPM and where the rules get stricter
- The four-tiered intervention hierarchy and what you have to demonstrate before moving up each level
- What prevention actually looks like in practice, from building envelope management to storage layout
- Why any pest control substance needs certifier approval before you use it
- How to manage third-party pest control contractors so their work doesn’t put your certification at risk
Watch Time: 16:39
Transitioning a facility to certified organic changes how you handle pests, and this video walks through what that shift requires. It lays out the four-tier hierarchy of interventions the organic regulations impose, from prevention through physical controls, National List materials, and synthetic pesticides as a last resort, and explains why you can’t move up a tier without documenting the failure of the one below and getting your certifier’s approval first. Along the way, experienced handlers describe the prevention and monitoring practices they rely on day to day, how the method of application shapes contamination risk, and what changes when a third-party contractor is doing the work inside your facility. It’s a useful orientation whether you’re building a pest management program, reviewing the one you already have, or bringing a contractor into an organic operation.
About the Featured Operations
Raven’s Brew
- Coffee Roaster, Wholesale & Retail
- Tumwater, WA
- Certified Organic since 2002
A small family-owned coffee roaster producing organic and conventional blends, serving grocery stores, cafes, service organizations, and direct-to-consumer customers online. It grew customer by customer from a small operation into a roastery that emphasizes strong relationships with its importers and green-coffee suppliers.
Organically Grown Company
- Organic Produce Wholesaler & Distributor
- Portland, OR
- 260 Employees
- Certified Organic since 1998
An organic produce wholesaler and distributor sourcing certified organic fruits and vegetables domestically and internationally for retailers, restaurants, buying clubs, and processors. At its core a logistics operation, it also sorts, repacks, co-packs, and private-labels. Founded to support local organic growers, it is now purpose-trust owned, serving a mission rather than profit and committed to advancing organic.
Sauk Farm LLC
- Organic Fruit Grower, Packer, & Aggregator
- Concrete, WA
- Certified Organic since 2016
A family farm growing organic apples and plums and processing them into juice, dried fruit, and fruit powders. Its philosophy is to do the work in the field and let the fruit speak for itself, avoiding additives and preservatives. It also custom-processes and co-packs for other farms and food businesses, valuing the diversification that brings.
Sailer’s Food Market & Meat Processing
- Meat Processor & Butcher
- Elmwood, WI
- 28 Employees
- Certified Organic since 2016
A meat operation offering both slaughter and processing services for organic and conventional product. It handles animals from intake through cutting, cooking, and packaging, and also hauls livestock for customers who lack their own transport, caring for animals in its possession as they would be on the farm.
Cedar Grove Cheese
- Organic Cheese Maker
- Plain, WI
- 28 Employees
- Certified Organic since 1995
A family-owned cheese manufacturer producing both conventional and organic cheeses, including cow, sheep, and goat varieties. Small enough to design productions directly to a customer’s specifications, it makes specialty cheeses and produces in bulk for other companies to label and market.
Traditional Medicinals
- Organic Herbal Teas
- Rohnert Park, CA
- Certified Organic since 1995
An herbal tea company and early organic adopter, deeply committed to its source communities and organic teas. It sources organic botanicals from grower communities worldwide, treating those relationships as essential to its work, and advocates for organic on a broader scale beyond its own products.